'; ?> <![CDATA[Living out the Gospel]]> https://comptu.com/blog/ EN Incomedia WebSite X5 Evo 1607811060): ?> <![CDATA[Worship2]]> imblog
This is a Christian technical support website. So, why is there mostly church stuff everywhere? Simply put, I am a grateful believing slave to my Lord Jesus, before all else.

When there exists a problem in the Body of Christ, and if it is not addressed, it will affect if not infect the whole Body. So, being aware of the problem, I am spotlighting it; I am bringing attention to it and raising the alarms; and, I am doing whatever it takes to get the attention of all who would read this. Why? Because it is really that important to get this right!  The worship of God involves our whole being; our thoughts, our attitudes and everything we do to express our worship. He is Holy, Holy, Holy. We better get the worship right which requires knowledge and understanding.

It has been one year since my last blog.  In my last blog, "," I brought attention to the manner of worship, worldly music and the focus of worship as well as the atmosphere where worship music is played. Ephesians 5:19 says that, when we are filled with the Spirit, we will be “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.”  I think we all should agree that any song whose lyrics contain false teachings should be rejected. The Spirit will not communicate deceptions or falsehoods. This is a mere doctrinal test and many churches think only along those lines and that is it.

Worship must be done in spirit and in truth. It helps to go back to Jesus’ command that we worship “in spirit and truth” in John 4:23. To worship “in spirit” means that we worship in sincerity, with our whole heart - our everything. We can’t do this if the song reminds us of the unbiblical theology of the church or songwriter who produced the song.

Our worship should be “in truth,” that is, based in a true biblical knowledge of God. Every part of our worship should be theologically correct and sound. This would include the source of the music. If a song’s lyrics reflect questionable theology, it’s just plain foolishness to use those words to worship a Thrice-Holy God; if we wouldn’t stand in front of the congregation and say it, we shouldn’t sing it. Granted, that is a pretty easy test and I doubt there would be any brethren who would disagree and that is the typical stance for some churches regarding music selection.

However, choice of songs for worship requires wisdom, grace, and humility. We need wisdom in selecting the best songs for the congregation to sing and also in determining the secondary considerations such as the identity, the character of the songwriters and the composers. Or, simply look to their churches and their pastors for a clear understanding as to what they believe as indicated by their teaching. Also, check to see with whom they associate. Going to their websites does not often help. It should not come to anyone as a surprise but many false churches are deceptive and misleading in their doctrinal belief statements. They are continually being caught saying one thing on their website as to their beliefs and then caught on video teaching something completely different and often heretical. Steven Furtick, Elevation Church, is an example of someone who teaches the doctrines of Oneness or what Trinitarians have come to call Modalism. Modalism was labeled a heresy way back in the 4th Century. It continues to be a heretical teaching. God tells us that He does not change and that He is the same yesterday and today. Modalism essentially redefines God into one who changes in order to be God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. That is heretical. Steven Furtick is a false Teacher.

In the course of a year, while Covid-19 brought everyone indoors for service in their homes, our house chose to reflect on "traditional" worship, seek deep meaty sermons from John MacArthur and Chuck Swindoll and be vigilant in study and prayer.

Each Sunday, as in every day, we spent time studying the Word of God. The difference was in our worship. Our Sundays were spent watching and participating in worship with Stonebriar Church in Frisco, Texas and then Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. Thankfully, the Internet offered to us the ability to traverse the great distances with a simple mouse click. These two churches consistently demonstrate good solid standards of worship in accord with a Thrice-Holy God. The end result is reverence for the Lord as opposed to irreverence which is the dangerous result of immature worship which amounts to something more akin to idol worship and/or self-glorification.

During the course of this last year, our family studied and researched and tested the spirits as we have been commanded to do so in 1 John 4:1, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."  This same command is echoed in other parts of Scripture like, in 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 where we find Paul exhorting the Christians to not “despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.”

These couple of verses are only two of many that warn Christians to test the messages that people or spirits proclaim. This is true in every situation but most importantly when someone or a spirit is claiming to speak for God. We tested the words spoken from specific pastors at specific churches. Christians are supposed to be discerning.  As such, we are to be discerning hearers and readers of all messages. The reason for this admonition to “test the spirits” or “test all things” is because there are “many false prophets” or “wolves in sheep’s clothing” that try to lead Christians astray. There are many who claim to speak for God who present a false gospel which saves no one. Hillsong, for example, is yet another prosperity gospel church. Such errors in teaching gives people a false hope of salvation. The end result makes these deceived people more resistant to the truth of the True Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not exposing these false teachers is no different than accepting them and consequently, accepting their teachings. I have a problem with that. Brethren, you should as well. Bill Johnson, Bethel Church, a bounty of false teaching.

We are warned in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 that “such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So, it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” So, the reason for testing the spirits, for testing all religious teaching, is to see if it is truly from God or if it is a lie from Satan and his servants.

We are always to test by comparing what is being taught with the clear teaching of the Bible. The Bible alone is the Word of God; it alone is inspired and inerrant. Therefore, the way to test the spirits is to see if what is being taught is in line with the clear teaching of Scripture. In Acts 17:10-11, the Berean Jews were commended because, after they heard the teachings of Paul and Silas, they “examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” The Bereans were called “noble” for doing so.

Testing the spirits means that one must know how to “examine the Scriptures.” Rather than simply accepting every teaching, be a discerning Christian who diligently studies the Scriptures. Then, as discerning Christians, we will know what the Bible says and therefore can “test all things and hold fast to what is true.” In order to do this, all of us, including you, must “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth,” found in 2 Timothy 2:15. The Word of God is to be “a lamp” and “a light” to our path, Psalm 119:105. We must let its light shine on the teachings and doctrines of the day; the Bible alone is the standard by which all truth must be judged and it will illuminate the Holiness of God resulting in worship which denotes that Holiness. It will expose that which is not of God. Read it to know the difference.

So, why is all of this important? There are 27 New Testament Books, of which 26 of them have vital information regarding false teachers and false churches. In fact, only Philemon has nothing in it regarding such matters. This gives rise in my mind that it is important to God that we get it. If we miss it then we fail to detect the obvious. If we're unable to discern a false church, then we are likely to continue in error by allowing for their music to be used in worship in our churches. People begin to follow the musical artists which, by the way, is the primary method of evangelism for Hillsong, Bethel and Elevation. Remember, “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” These false churches where sin abounds, and is encouraged to grow in their heretical doctrines, and is used to bring more into its ranks, wreak of the fires of Hell.

During this past year we learned that churches calling themselves Christian, do not necessarily believe the same thing across the board regarding the deity of Jesus Christ. This is the crucial distinction in belief. This has Salvation issues flashing in big broad letters.  If a believer can get past all of the glitter and the noise of what amounts to be more about "show biz" than Jesus Christ, then that would be a miracle.  Knowing what a church's position is on the deity of Jesus Christ speaks volumes as to who their god is. Before being dismissive of this, answer this question. Would your church play worship music from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir if it passed the biblical smell test? Will they even answer the question? This should be a pop-fly ball and easy catch for anyone who has knowledge of the truth. The answer should be a simple "no."  The reason is because the Mormon belief system is not compatible with biblical Christianity. That is because they do not possess the Gospel, their teachings are heretical and in a nutshell, Mormonism is a cult religion which denies Jesus in a multitude of ways like making Him a created being who is the brother of Lucifer. That is why it should never be allowed into the Christian Church. The source of where the worship music comes from matters.

It is all about self-glorification regardless of the words being sung. All of those songs coming out of false churches are inspired NOT of Holy Spirit but rather a Spirit of Antichrist. Therefore, singing praises to God when the source of that music is from false churches, is allowing yourself to be an instrument of demons who are actually mocking God with their words through you. An evil spirit cannot possess a believer because there's no room now that the Holy Spirit resides in you. However, you may be manipulated and played like a fiddle by the spirit of antichrist.  Don't yoke up with these false churches. They are NOT your brothers and sisters in Christ. You aren't even to eat with them according to Scripture.  1 Corinthians 5:11, "But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people."

     
Let's look at only three of these.  Hillsong, teaches a false doctrine known as the
 
Prosperity Doctrine. Brian Houston has long been known as a false teacher and Hillsong Church has been long known as a false church because of the heresies it exemplifies in teaching and in its actions. This has long been known by both Christian pastors and the secular media. Article 1, Article 2 and Article 3.
The end result of Hillsong Church?  All entertainment for self-glorification which is idolatry and of course, Jesus is left out of Christmas. Think Vegas show as you watch these and see if you see ANYTHING which would give the idea that this church or anyone in it are being "set apart" from the "world."

   

How about Bethel Church? Bill Johnson and Bethel are way out there - outside the boundaries of even on the "fringe" of Christianity.  According to Got Questions which does the best job in defining this "church," and I quote, "Bill Johnson and Bethel Church (Redding, California) and the churches that follow the lead of Bethel Redding are firmly within the New Apostolic Reformation movement, which is unbiblical and spiritually dangerous. The Bethel Church can be characterized as promoting Word of Faith teaching, the Prosperity Gospel, Dominionism, “grave sucking,” and other aberrant doctrines and practices."  Please refer to the complete article here and then ask yourself if you are comfortable supporting Bethel and its "ministries."  What is Bethel Church, Redding CA?

The end result of Bethel Church?  Straight out heresy and really scary stuff.

                   

How about Elevation Church? Why is it a false church and Steven Furtick a false teacher?      

And the list goes on and on with all three of these supposed Christian churches. If these "churches" are false churches, then why would any Christian align themselves with them? To do so, suggests that there is an agreement. It suggests association. It places a stamp of approval upon those "churches" when their worship music is used in Christian Churches.

If church leadership were to come to the realization that these are false churches run by false teachers, then the reason to continue to play their music in worship would naturally be: "Yes, we admit that these churches are false but their lyrics are biblically sound."  This is a very dangerous flirtation with false churches.

It would be like giving polluted or tainted water to your congregation and acknowledging that you know it is from a bad poisonous well, but it is still technically water because it contains 2 molecules of hydrogen and 1 molecule of oxygen. It passes the litmus test for water but at what cost? Beloved brethren! The source matters! The source always matters.

It would be like a group of men who are willing to receive illicit funds through ill-gotten gains and then tithe it to the church. It is a right and wrong issue. The source matters.

It would be like any sin which feels good on the surface doesn't look so bad but as with all sin, there is always a trap involved. It ensnares and entangles and can cause others to get tied up in it as well. Before long, if left unchecked, the sinner may very well live with it because he can't trust enough to let it go. It is a trust issue.

It is like an open cell that is a gilded cage filled with comforts and it is easy living there. There is no laboring in the choosing how you will decorate it. Without testing by examining ourselves, we may never know that we are in the trap until the door is slammed close. It is the testing of our faith issue.

Please, read your Bible's so that you may discern correctly. Test the spirits! Not reading your Bible is the single greatest danger among professing Christians because it assumes that your church leadership rightly handles the Word of Truth, believes it, obeys it, and teaches it. You bear no responsibility. However, we believers are all commanded to grow in the Grace and "knowledge" of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We believers are commanded in 2 Timothy 2:15 to, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

If all church leaders actually did handle the Word of God correctly, then there would be no false teachers or false churches and this would be a non-issue because they would all discern correctly in the Spirit; thus, there would be no association with any false churches no matter what, in any way - shape or form because they would not exist. Scripture on the other hand makes it clear that false teachers started springing up almost immediately. They are not going away.

Please understand that these false churches are wolves and should NEVER be allowed to enter the Christian Church, let alone encouraged to do so. Because of the appeal of their music coupled with ignorance of the dangers, this "worship music" from false churches are welcomed with opened arms. "It sounds good."  "It makes me feel good."  

Worshipping God is not an experiential thing. Experiential things are always trying to go to the next biggest, better and best looking, sounding and feeling experiences. They are shows meant to amuse, entertain and hopefully keep you coming back for more. They are designed to attract or draw people into new experiences which must always be evolving into the next new experience. It never ends. It merely changes into something else. That is man-centered and is not of God.

However, biblical Christianity is about getting your heart and mind involved. It is to give cause to pause and think of what it is all about and the price paid that I may come into a right relationship with God. It is only through Jesus at the cross which this can ever take place. It is totally and completely about Christ taking on my sins and being punished to death for my wrongfulness. It is about Him being buried and three days later resurrected back to life showing His sacrifice for me to be accepted. His power over death and the sins which led to it, is the message of the Gospel which I and all who place their trust totally in Him are jointly connected to forever. Because He lives, we who place our trust in Him, live too.

It is not a show which aims to redirect our attention from the Truth. It is the Truth which reveals what tries to remain hidden in the darkness. It reveals from where these songs spring. Through the power of His Word, His Light reveals who is behind ALL false churches. DO NOT allow him to gain a foot-hold. He will become entrenched and everyone will think it's okay to honor God with music whose source is of demons. Remember brethren, "God will not be mocked." You should never be placed in the position whereby you are an instrument of the devil in proclaiming words to God which are inspired of demons and/or a spirit of antichrist.

Since God does not give us a spirit of confusion, we should all be of one mind regarding this.  Since we are not, it has given rise to the reason for this topic of concern in this blog. The Truth is the Truth regardless of whatever spin someone might like to use to make the unacceptable appear to be acceptable. Put on your Christ-centered eyes and not your world-centered eyes and see these things as they are. Be warned the apostate church and the rise of the Antichrist are the two things remaining before the Rapture of His Church and the time of Tribulation. None of us can afford to get this wrong. So, I beg you Christian to please see things as they are and do not be afraid.  Instead, be wise and follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ no matter how you feel. It has never been about feeling and it never will be.

Respectfully brought to the attention of the professing believer in our Lord, Jesus Christ, in the spirit of love with respect.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Peace be with you,
Richard Cunha
]]> Sat, 12 Dec 2020 22:11:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?worship2 https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000022 1576264380): ?> <![CDATA[Worship]]> imblog
Please know that I know that the “church” isn’t a place. It is the body of believers God has purchased with His blood. For our purposes in this blog, I am merely addressing a phenomenon which typically begins with what I was presented with on Facebook.

Just the other day, I responded to a Facebook post regarding whether secular music should be used in church to help bring people into the church to evangelize them. (Presupposition: People of the "world" will follow "worldly" music even if it means entering a church). One of the examples cited was the band, U2. While I did give a cursory response, I was sure to make two points clear: Who we worship is God; and, we don’t change church to meet the world’s needs or expectations because the church is to impact the world and not the other way around. Further, I understand that Bono, from U2, distrusts organized religion having been born to a Roman Catholic father and a Protestant mother in the sectarian strife of 1960s Ireland and perhaps he may not have been the best example someone would want to use to support bringing in secular music for corporate worship within a church, but I digress.

I know of churches which have opted for the term “modernization.” I have heard it said that their church needs to catch up with the 21st century. This means the removal of pews and stained glass; and, the installation of theater seating, moving stages and theatrical lighting as well as just about every technological innovation this century has to offer. This begs to have one question answered. Why? And it also assumes that things will be better as a result. Click here

The aforementioned instances are covered by a term which seems to be increasing in its usage whenever changes are deemed necessary in the church. The term “multigenerational church” is being used over and over again as is if it gives the substantive reason why changes are necessary and I think it is time I give a response.

This has become an ever-increasing concern to me and my family as we watched millions of dollars put into a nearby church which put in all of the latest technologies for their preschool and overall campus renovations. They operated under the belief that their renovations would draw people into the church. In the end, the church and preschool went bankrupt, closed and after a number of years was ultimately sold off to a charter school.

Another nearby church places ear plugs at the entrance to its sanctuary to help protect the ears due to how loud the music is. That’s right. Earplugs are mostly used by mothers for their children to help protect their hearing. There is something about having to use earplugs in church which to me at least, is just wrong. Who, in the “world” determined it necessary to make the church environment to such a state in the first place? Someone actually found it necessary to address the reasons for loud churches. Click here

I suppose the most blatant example of what can happen if left unchecked, is a church which my wife and I watched in utter disbelief as a motocross racer jumped from dirt hill to dirt hill in the sanctuary of a church. Sure, it brought people in to be entertained for a moment of pleasure but the damage done may take a lifetime to repair. I speak of children who went to church to watch motorcycle stunts. That will be the image they will take away from it and that is what they will always remember. They will never forget the voice over the sound system encouraging people to cheer on the cyclist as he "jumps for Jesus." Really?

How about the churches which have fog machines and mood lighting filling the sanctuary during worship? Haven't heard of these? Church is turning into places of entertainment. I'm guardedly certain that each may have started off with good well-meaning intentions but no one heard the still small voice cautioning with the word "restraint." Click here

Since the point in time of Christ's resurrection, His church was and still remains multigenerational. The church would not exist if this were not the case. Each of us believers in our Lord Jesus have a responsibility before God to raise our children in the way that they should go. Jesus made it clear that He is the way. Therefore, we who are believers, are the ones who are to impact the next generation with the Truth of the Gospel. Yes, it is that simple.  You might say it is as simple as the Gospel itself. It is the church of believers who are to impact the ever increasingly rebellious “world” by going into all the world and proclaiming the Gospel to the whole creation.   If it wasn’t, no one would fill the pews after previous generations passed on. That, however, isn’t really the point.

I am deeply concerned as to how we, as the body of Christ, present our corporate worship to God. It speaks volumes to a world which finds little reason to seek after let alone worship God. The “world” has so tight a grip that everything is colored or rather tainted with illusions of what is acceptable and pleasing to God. As a consequence, worshipping God has become more about what the “world” expects and what the “world” will find more comfortable and pleasing to its senses. This is not only wrong, it is completely backwards. Further, another direct consequence is the relocating of long-time worshippers to other churches or worse yet, a total walking away from the church body.

Ultimately, we believers must understand the calling God places on all of His children. It brings the question of, “Am I my brother’s keeper,” to a whole new level. It is a more mature level which says to the “world,” I’ve already been where you are and I love you so much, I am willing to run the risk of telling you the truth. Your very senses and the determination of your sensibilities are colored by assumptions masquerading as wisdom.  It is a trap and delivers a false sense of well-meaning purposeful intentions directed at making things better than they currently are. Unless one is careful, it may open the door to changing how churches appear to the "world," how the church worships and may lead to issues I hope we need not ever face.

The early church met in homes, caves and catacombs. As time went on, massively ornate cathedrals with gold inlays, paintings, frescos, and murals served as examples of gaudiness to the “world.” By the time of the reformation and when Bibles could finally be placed in the hands of people, a return to houses and other places became the norm. Eventually, protestant churches rose to meet the increasing numbers of believers. By the time of the late 19th century, Charles Spurgeon preached to about 10 million people over the course of his life. He would often preach 10 times a week at different places. Billy Graham preached to live audiences of 210 million people in more than 185 countries and territories through various meetings. In both examples, people came to hear the Word of God and God provided the means by which that would take place. Our natural response to God is praise and worship. No gimmicks and it’s not about atmosphere, environment or any other distraction to set the mood of those in attendance.

It has never been about darkening the sanctuaries, turning on the mood lighting and fog machines; and, it isn’t about bringing in the music of the “world,” pumping up the volume and holding on tight because we are going for a ride today. It isn’t about corporate entertainment like an amusement park, a theater or a concert. It is about worshipping the One who created everything and praising Him for making a way that we may come into a right relationship with Him through our Lord Jesus and that is what needs to be conveyed in our worship and taught to new believers.

Nothing ostentatious is required nor should ever be considered. It is about a relationship with God and what that looks like as we praise Him with music and with song. Some may say it isn’t loud enough and we need to bring secular music from outside the church to bring people in. Really? Doesn’t that raise any kind of alert in you? If it doesn’t, then it is too loud for you to hear the still small voice telling you to open the curtains, let in the light so you can see the volume controls to turn it down.

Once a little of the "worldly" things become increasingly more acceptable by the "church" (body of believers), there is no line any longer between the "world" and the "church" and the result is always a blurring of the boundaries or their entire removal. The generation that follows after us, rather than learning and maturing in worship, becomes increasingly more likely to follow after things like this which breaks my heart.


https://youtu.be/vZRoOx5L0DE]]> Fri, 13 Dec 2019 19:13:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?worship https://comptu.com/blog/rss/00000001F 1569338760): ?> <![CDATA[By Our Love]]> imblog
Loving one another in the daily routines of life is a powerful witness that cannot be contradicted, denied or overcome. It is an impossible irreconcilable contradiction for a believer to hate fellow believers. God has given us an endless storehouse of grace upon grace and forgiveness upon forgiveness. While we all have different personalities, preferences and sins, His grace is boundless and allows us to love even when the world calls on us to hate.
 
Our Christian love must be extended to all people: believers as in John 13:34; to our neighbors as in Mark 12:31; and, even to our enemies as in Matthew 5:44.  The whole Bible commands us to show love to our enemies.  For example, as in (Exodus 23:4-5; Leviticus 19:18; and Proverbs 25:21).  However, the Psalmists also sings of hating those who hate God as in Psalm 139:22.

Given the difficulties which may creep up when addressing the things above, there should never be a conflict or a challenge in understanding the absolute necessity to love those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. As Christians, this is a "no brainer."

God has made it absolutely and abundantly clear without mixing any words.  In 1 John 4:20, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." Emphasis intentionally added.
So, if you love God, you will love others as yourself. It only makes sense. This is how the world will know we are Christians. It isn't about social media, tweets or bumper stickers. It's about Christ and it's about His children demonstrating a love which the world cannot give. The world is clueless. It's about not being afraid of what the world may say or do because you have chosen to love. Thank God for that Grace.

So, what is the end result of this? Life changing fearless love, not reckless love, which produces affirmation as to who it is we serve. It becomes a testimony unto itself.
The next thing you know, you may end up allowing God to handle everything in your life including your business, how you talk to people, what you do and with whom you choose to associate; and, ultimately, you may find yourself loving on people and not even know it. Why? Because it is really our natural state which has been vailed from us by the one who is currently being allowed to run amuck in this world.

The world will not understand our love for each other. It won't appreciate the way we love each other and it absolutely won't praise the love we have for one and other. But, as we love our brothers and sisters in Christ by word and deed, everyone will see and know, by this love, that we are disciples of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior.

Do you have questions as to whether God is real? Do you have an issue with God which has been left unresolved. Do you want to know what a relationship with Jesus looks like? Do you want to know what it is to be redeemed? Do you want to know with absolute certainty the saving Grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who will save to the utter most those of whom His father has given? Are there issues laying heavily on your heart to which you are unable to answer or perhaps currently unwilling to address? It is okay to call me regarding your computer issues and if the conversation goes to more pressing matters not related to your computer issues, well, that's okay too. It's all good as far as I'm concerned because it is simply yet another opportunity afforded by Jesus to minister to someone who may or may not know of Him and possibly not know Him personally. This becomes my concern as it should be yours as well.

Please give yourself this opportunity. I will not judge you in any way. I will however work to shed light and help to illuminate the answers you may have been seeking all along but could not bring yourself to the point of accepting the way things are meant to be. Please visit our other site which addresses many issues via experts debating each other over all of the various issues keeping you from the Truth. There you will find many resources to assist you in your relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. (Look2Jesus.com)  

God bless you.

Richard Cunha

]]> Tue, 24 Sep 2019 15:26:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?by-our-love https://comptu.com/blog/rss/00000001E 1559075280): ?> <![CDATA[Calling]]> imblog
I have been asked many questions over the course of my life as everyone of you have experienced as well. Questions dealing with my areas of expertise have been a pleasure because of the various perspectives from which I can see. Being a Christian, my perspective has no limitations and is therefore not isolated to the realm of strictly IT or Computer Technical Support or Internet or all things technical. For example, I see the frustrations of the elderly who feel left behind in a world of constant change; I see a generation lost in its own self-absorbed worldview; I see repetitions of memorized words without meaning or influence in the lives from which they stem; and, I have seen hope in our children who find their hope and security in our Lord, Jesus Christ. I believe each of these are blessings from the Lord and you may ask me why. The mere fact that they are brought to mind tells me everything I need to know and I know they are indeed blessings holding within each, an opportunity for prayer and the revelation of God’s Word.
 
Today, I am addressing only a few of the questions of the many I have been asked over the course of a number of years. Why? Because I believe it is important and may help in changing one's perspective and worldview. You may think that the questions of which I speak would be computer related but you would be wrong. Initially, people tend to call me regarding an issue first related to a computer need of some sort which inevitably leads to questions which never deal with the computer being serviced. It's a God thing. You may ask yourself why this might be the case. I see it as an opportunity to obey a very special and quite unique command. It is only given to those who believe on Jesus Christ and it is expected to be obeyed.

According to Scripture, 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20.
 
The word, “Go,” in Greek is poreuthentes which may be more accurately translated here to, “as you are going” when reading within the context of this being an instructional command. Remember, to whom much is given, much is expected. If you have received forgiveness, you must forgive; If you have received mercy, you must give mercy; if you have received Grace, then you must give grace; and of course, if you have received Salvation, then you must share this Good News. There is nothing more important this side of eternity because you are expected to share it.  Those of us who have received the Word are therefore responsible for it. Simply put, “As you are going...make disciples.” That changes everything from what you may have once thought.

While God may indeed be calling you to change your vocation or your location, that is certainly not a requirement for fulfilling the Great Commission. The truth is that Jesus has called each and every one of us to be a full-time missionary, making disciples as we go throughout our work and our lives no matter where that may be and no matter what we may be doing. It is called, “Living out the Gospel” as those who have been redeemed and not condemned. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1. Amen!

I remember a number of years ago sitting in Pastor Pete's office having been saved and eager to share the Gospel. I recall telling him that I have to go into the "Missions" Field. I learned that day that it was not a necessity to leave my home and head out to distant lands.

When we understand that work is inherently good and meaningful, that the calling of the clergy or someone out on the missions field is no higher than the calling of the congregation, and that Jesus has commanded us to make disciples as we are going throughout life...that changes everything we may have one time thought and believed. I know this to be the key. God uses his people regardless of where they happen to be. If He chooses to call a person to another country to preach His Word to a group of people who do not know Him or He chooses to reveal the need to you that a neighbor must hear of the saving Grace of our Lord; in either case, you are in the service of our Lord and it honors Him and it directly obeys His command. Just remember that the command is ongoing. That means you never stop making disciples. So, keep your eyes open and listen carefully for the opportunities afforded you by God to reveal His Word to those who do not know Him.
 
Therefore, it doesn’t matter what your job is and it doesn't matter where you live—you have been commanded to make disciples.
 
It doesn’t matter if you are an astronaut, in the military, a teacher, a businessman, a mom, a dad, an accountant, an attorney, a hard laborer, an artist or even a computer guy—God’s command to you is still the same and that is - to make disciples.
 
This is a command which is not at some distant point in the future. It isn't when you retire from your current vocation and it is certainly not just on the next short-term missions trip to Mexico. It is clearly, right now and that meansToday. You are a full-time missionary 24X7. What an awesome privilege. What an incredible responsibility because much is expected of you because you have already been given much.
 
This means that we who are believers, His redeemed, the called in accordance to His Word, the Elect, are all fulltime missionaries as we go through life in whatever vocation or occupation we may find ourselves.

Unfortunately, many have a mistaken belief which is totally unbiblical. The belief that there is some kind of hierarchy in the “callings” is ridiculous. Some think that a calling to the clergy is a greater calling than others. God called human beings to work, giving all work inherent meaning; thus, there should be no sense that one person’s vocational calling is higher, more meaningful, or more eternally significant than another. The only way I can see one having more meaning than another is if pride is blinding a person to see it that way. However, having the proper perspective in that it is all about God and not us, should correct that issue promptly. The truth is that we worship a God who works and that gives dignity and meaning to all vocations.

Quick Biblical History to Help See the Perspective: Jesus could have been born to some priestly household like John the Baptist, but no. He could have been born into a family of Pharisees like Saul of Tarsus who became Paul, the Apostle. But again, no. Jesus was born into the lowest of the working class. Jesus spent the majority of his life employed as a carpenter. His earthly father, Joseph, was also a carpenter, which means that Jesus was likely His earthly-father’s apprentice. The Greek word used for “carpenter” (tekton) could also be translated as “craftsman,” “builder,” “artisan,” “contractor,” or “handyman.” It is possible, therefore, that Jesus and Joseph were the sort of men you called when something needed to be fixed or repaired; or, maybe something needing to be built or altered in some way to make it more functional or better than it once was—be it made of wood, stone, or something else. When we look at the day and age and the location of where Jesus grew up, wood was not plentiful. Stone was the primary building material. He lived three miles from at least one rock quarry. Houses in ancient Nazareth were made with a rough stone foundation and mud-bricks were made on site. A minimum amount of wood was used in the roof structure because wood was expensive and not at all common. The houses in Nazareth were probably single story, simple and small.
 
So, why is this important? It helps to form my Biblical World-View. It helps me see other people’s perspectives and it helps me see people with a godly set of eyes rather than my own. It helps me place God’s intentions ahead of my own and it allows me to see things in a much bigger and broader way as well as a very narrow and singularly special way.

My God, Jesus, was born to the lowest of circumstances and labored in accordance to his vocation and he was known by the people at that time as the son of a carpenter.  I cannot help but to notice that His earthly father, Joseph, is the one being credited with the title.

I believe that every believer is given opportunities to labor for His kingdom in our present circumstances, in our current vocation, no matter what that may be and no matter what that may look like. I believe it is supported Biblically without question. To act as if the calling of the clergy or a missionary out in another country is higher than any other calling is nothing less than a slight at Jesus Christ and it is absolutely unbiblical.
 
So, I labor where I am.  I am called to be a missionary where I am and God gives me opportunities to serve Him in that capacity as evidenced by the stream of affirming remarks in the guestbook on this site.

I have been asked on numerous occasions, “how do you keep it all together?”

“It looks like you don’t separate work from religion so how do you do it?”

Well, let me address those two questions. Believe it or not, these are among the most common questions I receive. First, it isn’t about religion. Religion will kill you. According to Scripture, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20. These were the most religious of the age. However, they were responsible for blaspheming against the Holy Spirit which is one of only two unforgiveable sins. They basically sealed their own fate.

To be clear, it is really about a relationship with God though Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is the transformation caused by way of the Gospel message taken to heart which we all should be readily acknowledging and giving witness to the changed lives in which we now live.  It is therefore not I who live but Christ who lives in me. He makes it clear that He wants it to be made known through the fruit which is born about through the works manifested by the Holy Spirit. This is done so that He may receive the credit which is rightfully His. Therefore, it isn’t about me keeping it together and it isn’t about religion and separating work from it. It is simply living as one who has been redeemed and this is the necessary result of having received the Gospel message and the Grace given by God through Jesus Christ. This is simply what it looks like when it is lived out. That is all.

I have seen a number of questions or statements asking me why I'm not preaching to a congregation or being a pastor and the like. I believe that has already been addressed but in case it wasn’t clear, here it is in nutshell: God knows what He is doing and I serve Him in the capacity He has charged me. I wear many hats. I am a fulltime husband and dad but not before I am a child of God; I am a teacher of those who need to be encouraged by the Word of God but not before being a student of the Lord Jesus by way of prayer and learning His Word; I am a disciple but not before being a believer in our risen Lord; and, I am many other things at various times depending on the need and requirements my Lord places on me at any given time.

As the apostle Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, 19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Why am I not in front congregation preaching His Word? Here I am. This is where God has me and He is making much use of me in obedience to His command. I may speak with people not only in our city but also in many other locations including from out of our state and out of our country. God always gives a platform from which His servant may speak the Truth. COMPTU is what He has allowed me to use as His platform. If you are reading this I pray you are receiving the message.

Do you have questions as to whether God is real? Do you have an issue with God which has been left unresolved. Do you want to know what a relationship with Jesus looks like? Do you want to know what it is to be redeemed? Do you want to know with absolute certainty the saving Grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who will save to the utter most those of whom His father has given? Are there issues laying heavily on your heart to which you are unable to answer or perhaps currently unwilling to address? It is okay to call me regarding your computer issues and if the conversation goes to more pressing matters not related to your computer issues, well, that's okay too. It's all good as far as I'm concerned because it is simply yet another opportunity afforded by Jesus to minister to someone who may or may not know of Him and possibly not know Him personally. This becomes my concern as it should be yours as well.

Please give yourself this opportunity. I will not judge you in any way. I will however work to shed light and help to illuminate the answers you may have been seeking all along but could not bring yourself to the point of accepting the way things are meant to be. Please visit our other site which addresses many issues via experts debating each other over all of the various issues keeping you from the Truth. There you will find many resources to assist you in your relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. (Look2Jesus.com)  

God bless you.

Richard Cunha

]]> Tue, 28 May 2019 20:28:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?calling https://comptu.com/blog/rss/00000001D 1553446980): ?> <![CDATA[Discomfort]]> imblog
This whole post is more of a life lesson amidst difficult circumstances which I hope gives encouragement to all who read. May it give a biblical perspective which may lead to understanding of the truth of God's Word. May it be the beginning of something truly rewarding. The best advice I can give when studying Scripture is to remember that context is king. Find the context of what is written and never hang your hat on a verse or two which appears to answer your immediate question or questions. Doing so creates a habit of taking verses out of context and distorts meaning. The danger in doing this can give rise to false doctrines and cults. Remember, context is king and it is the key which unlocks understanding.

Here is the issue:  I have shingles. The pain is excruciating. It has been 13 weeks. I did not go to the doctor until more than 2 and a half weeks after I had exhibited the signs. Therefore, the antiviral meds had little or no effect.

Biblically, I know If it were always God’s will for people to be healed, then everyone would be healed every time he or she became ill. If good health were always God’s will, then Christians should never die. We can’t blame someone’s malady on a lack of faith, for we know, biblically, that God sometimes uses illness to accomplish His will. Also, it’s not just wayward believers who get sick. Paul “left Trophimus sick in Miletus” (2 Timothy 4:20), and Paul himself had a physical ailment that the Lord declined to heal (2 Corinthians 12:7–9).

Often, Christians have an over-simplified idea of healing. They think that, if they are sick, they have only to ask God to heal them and, because God loves them, He will heal them straightaway. Healing is seen as proof of a person’s faith and of God’s love. This idea persists in some circles in spite of the truth that every mother knows: a parent does not give her child everything he asks for every time, no matter how much she loves him.

I recently had a phone call and a follow-up email from a person I greatly love and respect, so much so, I call her mom. She has faithfully prayed for my healing. She expressed to me a sadness or disappointment that I had not yet been healed of shingles after 12 weeks of enduring this dreaded affliction. I told her that there is a purpose for it although I may not know it. If and when God chooses to heal me, He will do so or he will not. Let's remember the Apostle Paul and his thorn in the flesh which God chose not to heal. Let's not forget that Paul left his companion of 7-years, Trophimus, sick and did not heal him. It is God who does the healing and He can do whatever He wants with His creation.

Mom wrote to me. Her words are in color and I have her permission to publish this:

As I was praying and thinking of your answer I was wondering what your scripture reference was for your answer.
I opened my morning “encouragement“ on my phone and this is what I read..   
 
Healing Always Comes

And   these signs shall follow them that believe...they shall lay hands on the   sick, and they shall recover.
– Mark 16:17-18

I used to get upset over people I'd lay hands on who wouldn't get well. I was praying one day and seeking God about it when He spoke to my spirit and said, Healing always comes.

I remember I said, "What do You mean, Healing always comes?  Not everyone gets healed."

I didn't say they all received it, He answered. Then He spoke very sternly to me. I do My part. And I said they would recover!

Those words hit   me like a ton of bricks. He said they would recover. He never lies. So if He said they would recover, then that means healing always comes. It's not God who's holding back. It's the receivers who aren't receiving.

Since then, I've never had any trouble laying hands on people and believing for them to be healed. Whether they walk away well or not, I just keep standing in faith for them. In fact, I know if that fellow who went away still sick ever lines his faith up with God and me—I don't care if it's five years from now—he'll be healed.

If you've laid   hands on someone who didn't receive his healing, don't cut off the flow of   God's power by withdrawing your faith. Stand fast. Keep believing that healing always comes and somewhere down the line that poor sick fellow may just decide to stand up and agree with you!   
And Daniel 12:10 says those who are wise will understand.

I have fought Satan all the way when he put arthritis in my hands and in my hips.  I commanded him to leave me alone and I claimed healing in my body and said (according to Proverbs) that the tissue in my hips that was missing was being replaced.

I have no arthritis in my hands and my hips have stopped hurting.  I thought I would have to stop walking it got so bad.  I am a fighter and I believe the word of God.  Please stand on the word and command your body.  God created the world by speaking and he has set a perfect example for us to follow.  Life and death is in your mouth.  Speak it over yourself.  I love you and am praying that you will agree with the Word.  

Love you,  Mom

Just for those curious on how to interpret Mark 16:17-18 mentioned above, rather than me typing it all out, here is a link which explains it so I really don't need to repeat it. I will say that it is extemely important to follow the pronouns: Click Here.

So, in my typical fashion, I wrote back and have for our purposes expanded the Scriptural verses and have commented here in the following which I did not do in my email to mom. I truly recognize her heart-felt desire that I be healed and her disappointement in my not being healed now. Here, in substance, is what I wrote:

Hmm.  Okay. As with many who deal with suffering, I went to the book of Job. You asked for my Scriptural references but I suppose these will be the starters. Actually the entire Book of Job and more specifically the lessons gained from within the Book of Job, are my references. You may shoot to number 7 in this email if you want to know specifically of what I was referring.

8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. ~Job 1:8-12

3 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” 4 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.” 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. ~Job 2:3-7
 
“Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand? 2 Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages, 3 so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. 4 When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. 5 My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh. ~Job 7:1-5

Understanding that compatibility between God’s sovereignty and human will is not mutually exclusive, and Scripture makes this absolutely clear. In God’s design, human responsibility is clearly not eliminated by God’s sovereign control over His creation. That’s true even though evil was included in His grand design for the universe even before the beginning of time, and He uses His creatures’ sin, circumstances and afflictions such as with Job, for purposes that are always (and only) good.  Indeed, in His infinite wisdom, He is able to use all things for good (Rom. 8:28).

We see those seemingly contrasting truths of divine sovereignty and human responsibility repeatedly, in every part of God’s Word. But Scripture never attempts to ease the apparent tension. There’s no inspired explanation that spells out their complex relationship. Just knowing that He Himself is the standard of true righteousness, and He never acts in a way that would contradict His righteousness or justice, is sufficient for me.

I just know there is a reason for all of this. It may be as simple as me spreading the word regarding shingles. Up until my affliction, I knew nothing of it and did not get to the doctor until more than two and a half weeks after it started. I would spare everyone this by simply informing them. I knew nothing about a shingles shot until this happened to me. Now I tell everyone about it so as to reduce people’s suffering from this extremely painful affliction.

The lessons we are all to learn from the book of Job which I am applying are as follows:

1. Bad things happen to good people (even though we know there are none who are truly good).

The book of Job opens in verse one by telling us that Job was a blameless, upright man who feared God and turned away from evil.  Then…his life unraveled.  

Job’s suffering did not come because he was bad but rather because of his unwavering faithfulness to God. (Job 1:8) Being faithful may come with great suffering. I am a faithful man of God. Jesus said to pick up our crosses and follow Him. Sometimes it looks like persecusion for the sake of Christ and sometimes it is simply enduring for the sake of Christ.

Our Pastor and his wife had lost a child.  Another was born with around 22 or 23 anomolies requiring many surgeries and their grandchild was murdered. On top of all of that, his wife has had to deal with diabetes thoughout her life and has a heart condition and both of them have had to deal with cancer. It is how we all choose to deal with our situations which defines who we are. I am in Christ, just as our Pastor and his wife are in Christ. It is Christ who has defined who we are and we go to Him with our afflictions, our hurts, our hang-ups and all of our problems. We do so knowing that ultimately He decides what to do with His creatures.

2. In the midst of our suffering, we must never lose our hope in God.

One of the greatest statements of faith in all of scripture is found right in the middle of Job chapter 13. Job says: “Though he slay me, I will hope in him.”

No one and nothing can steal your joy or your peace when your hope is in God.  I am never to lose hope in God! I suppose this affliction has hung on as long as it has in order to demonstrate to me just how hopeful I am in God. It is an exercise in which I choose to get strong in my reliance upon that hope.

3. Our friends may fail us amidst our suffering but God never does.

Job’s friends put him on the defense.  Job said of his three friends:  “Miserable comforters are you all!” (16:2)  Job proclaims where his deep strength flows from:

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! ~Job 19:25-27

I, however, have been blessed with faithful God fearing children of God who have come along side with prayer and comforting words meant to encourage and strengthen and not tear down. These blessings are all from God. It reinforces the truth I have come to know that I am surrounded by the family of God and I am most thankful.

4. Even in the midst of God’s silence, He is with us.

Job wrestled over his affliction and wrestled with God’s silence in the midst of his suffering.  Over 25 times he asked the question “why?” and he continually asked for the opportunity to defend his case before God.  Job had entered the fiery furnace of suffering.

Job writes:

But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. 11 My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. 12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. ~Job 23:10-12

This is particularly difficult and I apparently need to be strengthened in this area. Thus the reason He has chosen not to heal me yet. It’s all about His timing and not my own. I may never know why He is waiting so long (this side of heaven) but I simply know He will heal me when He decides to do so.

5. Wisdom comes from fearing God and turning away from evil.

Humility is key.  Pride can interfere with us following the wise ways of the Lord.  And when pride interferes it clouds our vision, and before we know it – we are on the wrong path towards evil.  Job explains in Job 28:28:
 
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’

This is my greatest enemy. Pride which denotes itself by arrogance. I read and I learn. I apply to my life. I teach and wonder why people don’t read and learn and then apply to their lives. The temptation is to feel superior to others as if I get something that no one else seems to but the reality is that God has made it clear to me. It is the broken and contrite heart, He will not despise. I am always at the verge of being the Pharisee - comparing myself to the despised tax collector. But in the end it was the despised tax collector beating his breast with total surrender in humility saying ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ who went home justified before God.

6. God is with us in the midst of our storms.

The Lord is our good shepherd and He never leaves our side.  He walks with us through the valleys.  He restores our soul when we are weary.   He leads us to the path of righteousness when we have lost our way.  He gives us courage when we are scared and he comforts us when we are hurting.  Our God is the God of the storm. I am to be reliant on His comfort during this season.

7. God is in control.

God is the creator of the universe. He is mighty and powerful.  We can trust Him with our lives.  We see in Job chapter one, that nothing came into the life of Job which did not first go through the hands of his loving God.  Every page of scripture points to a sovereign God – from the creation account in Genesis to the return of Christ in Revelation, our God is in complete control. Sometimes, I think we forget that fact. Sometimes, as with me now, it encourages the strengthening of faith in areas of weakness as a result. I like to have some kind of control over my circumstances. Currently, I take two multi-vitamins, 1000mg of Vitamin C, Vitamin B Complex and C, Olive leaf extract, L-Lysine, Magnesium Citrate, Fish oil, and another half a dozen things which I can’t even remember by name plus pain meds. However, it is God who is in control, not me. Something good will be brought about through this.

8. Sometimes, in the midst of our suffering, we sin.

God accepts a humble and repentant heart. In Job 42, we see Job surrender to God and repent.  Job recognized that God is the creator and he is just his creation. Perhaps, from time to time during this affliction, I sinned by omitting the circumstances leading up to my current condition – namely, not telling that I didn’t go to the doctor at the first sign.

I despise myself, and repent in the dust of ashes.
~Job 42:6

9. Sometimes we sin against our friends.

Job’s friends not only failed to be there for Job in a supportive, loving way but they gave poor advice based on their misunderstandings of God.
 
The Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. ~Job 42:7

Interestingly, two of our friends from church told my wife what caused my shingles to start up. They said it was stress and poor diet. They said nothing to encourage or help but kept making my wife feel as though the stress and poor diet was somehow a fault to be placed.  Nonetheless, my wife would come home from church feeling badly having heard these things.

The reality however, is quite different. Research of many tens of thousands over many years found no causal link between stress or diet. It has been a hundred-year-old theory which lasts to this day but has absolutely no facts to support it. To date, no one knows what activates the virus leading to shingles.

10.  After repentance and forgiveness comes blessings.

In Job 42, Job made a burnt offering for his friends and prayed for them as God commanded Him to do.  God accepted Job’s prayer for them and THEN Job’s fortunes were restored WHEN he prayed for his friends!

Isn’t this an interesting connection?  Job forgave his friends BEFORE he knew how blessed he was about to become.  It was Job’s prayer that released blessings! This is where I am today.

“The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.”
~Job 42:12

Our Heavenly Father feeds the sparrows and clothes the lilies, surely He will take care of us in the midst of our trials. And that is exactly what I think this whole thing is. A trial.

In the end, God rewarded Job for his faithfulness.  

So, there you are. I hope this makes sense to you. You know, I think this email should be in my blog. Maybe something in it will encourage people or help answer why bad things happen to good people.

Well, my dear mom in the spirit, I thank you in all humility, as I ask for continued prayers. You have been and continue to be a blessing and I just want you to know that.

Take care and God bless you.

Peace,
Rick

Then mom wrote back:

Maybe you missed your calling… :^) I think you should be behind the pulpit. What a blessing you are.  Yes, this needs to be on your website.  M

To which I replied:

Have you read my reviews in the guestbook.  I think God knows what He is doing with me. I think He has me where I can do the most good for a select group of people. But what do I know. I just go as He leads.

Peace,
Rick

I want to stress this point for everyone reading this blog. I love mom for her faith and her persistance in that faith. I love her for who she is, fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God and I respect her unreservedly without question. May all of this serve as an example whereby two Christians may hold two differing points of view but still respect each other in love.

I think of this as a wonderful opportunity to write on something I never would have thought of had I not received the phone call from mom in the first place. Had I not received the email from her, I wouldn't have seen the necessity to write on it. And so, here we are.

Thank you God for giving mom a heart for you which cares for the body of Christ and thank you mom for yielding to His authority in your life. I believe there will be people who will benefit from this post in some way and you helped make it possible. Thank you.

In His grip,

Rick Cunha

]]> Sun, 24 Mar 2019 17:03:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?discomfort https://comptu.com/blog/rss/00000001C 1547588700): ?> <![CDATA[Productivity]]> imblog
I have watched the computer industry change over my 39 years in business. I remember huge floppy disks and when a megabyte of storage was nothing short of truly amazing.  I remember getting my Fujitsu Micro 16S computer system about 38 years ago. It was nearly $4,000.00. I remember when a 10 megabyte external storage device became available for my Fujitsu Micro 16S. It was going to cost me $1,200.00. I thought it was a bit too much and simply stored everything on a whole bunch of floppy disks instead.

Today, my phone has far more processing power and storage capability than that state of the art computer system I once had. The difference is drastic. My phone has 250GB of storage for example. That is 250,000 megabytes. If I were to purchase the equivalent amount of storage for my old Fujitsu Micro 16S, it would cost $300,000,000.00. That's 300 million dollars if you lost track of the zeros.
 
Growing up in this industry has had many benefits not readily seen in other areas. I have seen much good and bad done in this industry and I have seen and have been given many opportunities to demonstrate grace and generosity.

For many years, we have taken in old computers which have been replaced by newer systems. We have refurbished those older machines and have given them away to those who could not afford a computer. There are lessons to be learned by these few paragraphs of which I have written and I hope these lessons fall on ears ready and willing to hear.

Lesson 1 - New is really based on the perspective of the one receiving the item. Old is equally based on the same perspective. Sort of like, "one man's trash is another man's treasure."

Lesson 2 - Just because something is new, doesn't mean it is necessary or even worth the purchase.

Lesson 3 - The most important lesson is to remember the past and learn from it so that you may apply that learned knowledge to your future.

Growing in Christ works in a similar way. I remember when Jesus answered my prayers quickly over and over again and I could count on my prayers being answered quickly, constantly and faithfully (1 Peter 2:2-3). Over time, my prayers were no longer being answered so quickly because I was maturing in my faith (Hebrews 11:1). This fact has never stopped me from praying or working to glorify God in my attitude and in the gifts, He has given me. In fact, it caused me to work all the harder. I can look back at His faithfulness sort of like looking back over my industry. I see His hand guiding my life much as I have seen the trends in my industry being guided by technological innovations and needs. I have seen the value of items much sought after become downright cheap; and, I have seen the price of salvation, although being absolutely free, it is also absolutely priceless. The point is that because of this maturing process, I understand the necessity to be productive in everything I do and that productivity is definitely not the same as what the world would dictate.

The lessons I have learned from something as simple as this are:

Lesson 1 - Our culture says work is for self-fulfillment. The Bible says that work is about glorifying God (Colossians 3:17)

Lesson 2 - Our culture says we should store up as much wealth as we can–the Bible says that we are to pursue eternal treasures rather than earthly ones (Matthew 6:19-20)

Lesson 3 - Our culture thinks that worship is what Christians do for an hour each Sunday. The Bible says that we can do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through Him (Colossians 3:17)

Lesson 4 - Just because something is free, doesn’t make it less valuable.

Lesson 5 - Be ever so mindful of the value of whatever you may have been given. Someone may have paid a very high price for it so that one day you may be given it at no charge to you at all.

What does applying this to our lives look like?

Our work and productivity matter to God and are profoundly important in His eyes. This goes for every single job you may have. If you’re sweeping floors for a living, then you are sweeping floors to glorify God. Working productively allows you to honor God by maximizing the use of your time and to do more good works, not for your salvation, but for His glory. This is what being a productive Christian is all about.

Martin Luther King Jr. put it this way:

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

Please visit our other site which addresses many issues via experts debating each other over all of the various issues keeping you from the Truth. There you will find many resources to assist you in your relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. (Look2Jesus.com)  

God bless you,
Richard
]]> Tue, 15 Jan 2019 21:45:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?productivity https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000019 1544227320): ?> <![CDATA[Known and Unknown]]> imblog
I remember a number of years back when my mom and I were talking about my future in the computer industry. I distinctly remember telling her that I knew everything about my industry. Did I mention that my arrogance was the stuff of legend? Sure, people would say, “don’t be a Rick,” when someone was being a know-it-all. It may surprise you to find out that I actually look back on those days with a sense of fondness. That is because I now know so much more than I thought I knew back then. It is the appreciation of the wealth of knowledge which is always ongoing and from time to time, it captivates me. Only one word comes to mind and that is thankfulness. This is probably not the word you would have come up with but let's just try something here.

Let me ask you a question. Out of your vast years of experience both through the educational systems of varying degrees to the school of life, do you think you have obtained .00001% of the totality of accumulated knowable knowledge in the world? If the answer is yes, then let me add some information. Did you know that while you are surfing the world wide web, you are actually using only about 4% of the public Internet? That’s right 4%. Most people are unaware that only 4% of the Internet is publicly searchable, the other 96% is closed off, and is made up of the Deep Web, and the Dark Web.  I’m thinking you didn’t know this.  Are you a bit surprised?
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(The following is an excerpt from Network Box, In the Boxing Ring, December, 2018)

The Deep Web is the place where companies and people choose to remain hidden by not allowing for their data to be publicly discoverable. There is really nothing wrong with this at all. The Dark Web, however, is another story. The Dark Web is the deliberately hidden part of the world wide web, which cannot be accessed without specialist knowledge, and specific software tools. This is the place where hackers call home.

While not everything that happens on the Dark Web is criminal in nature; without any doubt, almost everything that is criminal, and happening online, is happening on the Dark Web. Drugs. Sex. Firearms. Even murder for hire. If people are willing to pay, then it can almost certainly be found, somewhere on the Dark Web.

Whenever a major hack is carried out somewhere, typically resulting in a massive data breach, that personal data usually ends up on the Dark Web. There are currently over 5.6 billion sets of hacked credentials already posted, and the number is growing fast. In the last few weeks alone, Cathay Pacific, American Express, HSBC, and Marriott, have announced successful attacks against their networks, resulting in huge numbers of their clients having their information stolen.

Full Names, Birthdates, Mobile Phone Numbers, Physical Addresses, Bank Account Numbers, Credit Card Numbers, ID Card Numbers, Passport Numbers, Medical Records, Travel Itineraries, Children’s Information, Personal Photos and Videos; as more and more people become repeat victims of such third-party breaches, the ability of hackers to splice each person’s data into a comprehensive digital identity that can be used for high quality identity theft, grows. While it is very hard to track people by name – think how many ‘John Smiths’ there are in the world – it is easy to track people by their email address. By definition, there is (usually) only one person using each email address. That is why when you want to reset your password, as an example, most websites offer to email you a clickable link to do so.

(End of excerpt)
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Did you all learn something from this that you absolutely had no clue about to begin with? That was only the Internet which is a tool which is most likely used by all of you every single day. You may have grown up with it. Yet only 4% of it you have ever been able to search on and you likely didn't know it.

Let’s take this lesson a bit further. If you think you understand the way of things and believe there is no God, kindly go back to my original question and think again. You may discover that God is in that 99.9999% area of that which you know absolutely nothing... Yet.

The beginning of Psalm 14:1 reads, the fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

Please don’t be foolishly arrogant in thinking you know it all and that you understand the way of things and in the end there is simply no room for believing in Jesus. If you admit that you learned something new here today about the Internet which you thought you had a pretty good understanding, there is hope.

When you come to the saving Grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, you too will have the same word in mind as I... Thankfulness.

Do you have questions? Ask me and I’ll see if I might point you in the right direction.

Please visit our other site which addresses many issues via experts debating each other over all of the various issues keeping you from the Truth. There you will find many resources to assist you in your relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. (Look2Jesus.com)  


God bless you.

Rick Cunha

]]> Sat, 08 Dec 2018 00:02:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?known-and-unknown https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000018 1543335900): ?> <![CDATA[Hacked]]> imblog
Credit for the graphic goes to "Krebs on Security."
 
The graphic representation of a hacked computer is more than accurate in that it also relates to each of us as individuals to "boot" (pardon the pun). We are all inclined to do bad things which are of course displeasing to God. These bad things are sinful because they turn us away from God.

By turning your hacked computer into a money-making unit for bad guys, your computer becomes any number of the following: a web server, a seller of virtual goods, an email attacker, a bot, a holder of keys for ransomware if not the victim, hostage attacks, all credentials ripped off and usurped; and, let's not forget your reputation in the social community totally damaged. Think of the "Hacked Computer" as you. You are capable of unimaginable bad things just like this graphic represents.

Kindly remember that evil exists to do bad things. When left unchecked, evil will always develop new ways to do bad things which will undermine your good intentions and cause a great deal of harm. Isn't that true about life as well? I mean, think about those who influence us. If you surround yourself with really bad people, then it stands to reason that one should not be surprised if you end up doing bad things yourself. However, if you surround yourself with well-intentioned people who have no intentions of harming others in any way, then it will be likely that you will probably end up being the same way.

The qualities of our lives may be defined by the people who influence and help shape our character. If you visit bad websites, like pornographic sites, then don't be so surprised when your computer gets hacked and no longer behaves as it was designed. The malfunction began by you not behaving as you were designed. You are not alone. Every last one of us have fouled up and as a consequence paid the price in some way, shape or form.

Your security is not limited to the computer itself. In Christ, your eternal security is defined by Jesus' finished work and it is given as a gift. It isn't about doing enough good to offset the bad in order to merit eternal life. It's not a negotiation. It's simply not possible to rate the perfect 100% requirement of being Holy while you exist in a fallen world. Nothing done in a fallen world can ever equate to perfection. It's a fallen world. Remember our graphic - no matter how many websites you go to that are good, it will in no way cancel out any of the bad ones which resulted in the consequences exhibited herein.

Man is born with a sinful nature. "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned." Romans 5:12. “...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. There is a penalty for not measuring up to the Holy requirements of God. Romans 6:23 tells us that, "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ."

So, God made a way by taking us out of the equation and He substituted Himself. By not being born of man but was conceived by way of the Holy Spirit, man's sinful nature was not passed on to Jesus. He was therefore free to experience the whole gambit of temptations without ever succumbing to sin. His death on the cross was unmerited and thus undeserving of a man who was without sin. His death satisfied the requirements for sin but He had not committed any sin at all. So, His death became a substitute for all of those who call upon Jesus as Lord and Savior. Since He was without sin, death had no hold on Him and on the third day, He rose again proving He was God. His actions upon that cross at Calvary set the new standard by which we may now come into God's Holy presence. It is resting entirely on the merits of Christ for Salvation. Doing so, He offers New Life to the believers who of course believe on Jesus as Lord and Savior.

How does this relate to the hacked computer? Simple, rather than trying to fix it yourself and attempting to address all of the infections and registry issues and networking proxies and the like; stop, and take this as an opportunity for new life. Just like what Jesus is offering each one of us. Completely format the drive (your thinking) and redo the computer (your life). After all, even though you may think you got all of the bad stuff out of the computer (your life) by scanning and cleaning, bad stuff tends to linger (on the drive and in your mind) in spite of our good intentions. It requires a changing out of all of the old ways of thinking (renewing of your mind). It is written, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2.

In life, good things would be church, church family, fellowship, reading the Bible, Bible Studies, devotionals, serving; and, constantly looking to apply God's Word to your life in everything. When it comes to the computer, after wiping it all out and starting from scratch as a completely clean machine, it means installing good antivirus protection, downloading and install all current hardware drivers, downloading and installing all current Windows critical and recommended updates, downloading and installing all of the latest third-party software like Java and Silverlight; and, it means maintaining your good integrity while you browse the internet. After all, your bad sinful self was crucified on that cross and it is no longer you who live but Christ who lives in you. And the life you now live in the flesh you live by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and gave himself for you.

Please visit our other site which addresses many issues via experts debating each other over all of the various issues keeping you from the Truth. There you will find many resources to assist you in your relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. (Look2Jesus.com)

God bless you,

Richard Cunha  

 

]]> Tue, 27 Nov 2018 16:25:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?hacked https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000016 1536076140): ?> <![CDATA[Hidden]]> imblog
The latest trend these days when it comes to infecting a computer, is to leave no trace on the machine itself. In fact, the goal is to bypass the antivirus solution entirely and utilize built-in features of the Operating System as methods of running in the background. This type of an attack is known as “fileless malware.”

Its goal is to remain hidden and beyond detection. It may use Powershell or WMI which are components in Windows in order to launch specific programs in Windows like the calculator for example.  It will cause the calculator to run in the background “hidden” from your eyes. All the while, the infection does whatever its designer created it to do. It can do reconnaissance on the system and gather personal information for example.
 
You may have the most advanced antivirus available today; you may run malware scanners every day and perform all maintenance on a regular basis; and you may even know pretty much what you are doing. All of those things considered, if your system gets this “fileless malware” it will not be found by any conventional scanning method today.

Meanwhile, once in the system by following the path of least resistance, the perpetrator can retrieve sensitive data and migrate to other machines on the network at their leisure.
 
Let’s look at an example of how this might happen.

Step 1: Perhaps doing according to a clever spam message promising untold riches, a user clicks on a link and visits a website.
 
Step 2: When Flash player loads, the ouch! That’s pretty much it.
 
Step 3: Flash accesses PowerShell, and from here, operating only in the computer’s memory, instructions go through the command line. Those instructions tell it to download a malicious PowerShell script specializing in collecting sensitive data and sending it back to its creator.

The criminal at no time had to figure out how to sneak a malicious program code past the antivirus and malware defenses on your system. This is a very big deal.

Cyber criminals have shifted their focus away from popular malware strategies like brute force automated login attempts or sneaky spear phishing schemes. The reason is simple: Antivirus and anti-malware security programs aren’t looking for where these “fileless malware” attacks are going. They aren’t designed to stop this kind of attack. Antivirus programs are trained to sniff out trouble when a file is written and not when anything else occurs like this.

Does that mean traditional AV suites are useless in detecting this new type of computer takeover? Unfortunately, that is exactly what it means.

Once PowerShell or the WMI is compromised, attackers may remain undetected for however long they like, steeling data whenever they want.

The claim surrounding this brand of malware as being undetectable, is not entirely accurate. When we look at previously created malware and viruses of all sorts, this new type is so different, we think of it as undetectable because we have seen nothing like it before. These steps below aren’t foolproof but do provide a layered, systematic security approach that should minimize risk to your organization.

  1. Disable PowerShell and WMI if you’re not using them.
  2. Disable macros if you’re not using them. If you are, digitally sign and use only those vetted specifically for the company. No signature means don’t use it!
  3. Regularly check security logs for inordinate amounts of data LEAVING the network.     Hint: it could be going to a bad guy.
  4. Look for changes in the system’s usual behavior patterns when compared against   baselines.
  5. Update your software regularly.

To disable WMI, in the Control Panel, click Security and then click Windows Firewall. Click Change Settings and then click the Exceptions tab. In the Exceptions window, select the check box for Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to enable WMI traffic through the firewall. To disable WMI traffic, clear the check box.

To disable PowerShell in Windows 8 and 10:
  
  1. Go to the Control Panel and select the Programs and Features option.
    2.  
  2. Next click on the Turn Windows features on or off link on the left panel.
    3.  
  3. When the Windows Features dialog appears, scroll down to Windows PowerShell V2 and uncheck the feature to disable it or check to enable.

It does not appear to be possible to only disable the v2 in Windows 7. Windows 7 comes per default with v2, so it is baked in and not a feature the way it is in Windows 8 and Windows 10.

My guess as to why you cannot find any way to do it for Windows 7 is that Mainstream support for Windows 7 ended back in 2015 and the extended support ends in 1½ year in 2020. So it looks like Microsoft doesn't bother with working around this issue in Windows 7 and basically wants people to upgrade if they need this functionally disabled for security reasons.

What can we learn from this? So Christians are not to think of secret sins as somehow less serious and more respectable than the sins everyone sees. The things hidden in our lives may become visible to others and as they collect pieces of our lives looking for things which may benefit them, our lives become exploited not unlike our computers.
  
In Luke 8:17, we read, “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”

In Matthew 10:26, we read, “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.”
 
Jesus' exposition of the law is a huge blow against the old lie that our image is everything.
Jesus taught over and over again, that sin which is bottled up on the inside, concealed from everyone else's view, carries the very same guilt as the sin which manifests itself in the worst forms of the ungodly act itself. Those who hate others are as guilty as those who act out their hatred; and those who indulge in private lusts are as culpable as wanton adulterers (Matthew 5:21-30).
 
Here are three reasons secret sin is especially abhorrent:
 
1.   Because God sees the heart.
 
Scripture tells us "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). No sin—not even a whispered curse or a fleeting evil thought—is hidden from the view of God. In fact, if we realized that God himself is the only audience for such secret sins, we might be less inclined to write them off so lightly.
 
The Bible declares that God will one day judge the secrets of every heart (Romans 2:16). He "will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
 
Not only that, no sin will remain in secret. "The Lord [will] bring to light the things hidden in the darkness" (1 Corinthians 4:5). Jesus said, "There is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops" (Luke 12:2-3). Those who think they can evade shame by sinning in secret will discover one day that open disclosure of their secrets before the very throne of God is the worst shame of all.
 
It is absolute folly to think we can mitigate our sin by keeping it secret. It is double folly to tell ourselves that we are better than others because we sin in private rather than in public. And it is the very height of arrogance to convince ourselves that we can get away with sin by covering it up. "He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper" (Proverbs 28:13).
 
All sin is an assault against our holy God, whether it is done in public or in secret. And God, who beholds even the innermost secrets of the heart, sees our sin clearly, no matter how well we think we have covered it.
 
2.   Because sin in the mind is a fruit of the same moral defect that produces deeds of sin.
 
When Jesus said hatred carries the same kind of guilt as murder, and lust is the very essence of adultery, He was not suggesting that there is no difference in degree between sin that takes place in the mind and sin that is acted out. Scripture does not teach that all sins are of equal enormity.
 
The fact that we view some sins as being worse than others is patently obvious and thoroughly biblical. Scripture plainly teaches this, for example, when it tells us the sin of Judas was greater than the sin of Pilate (John 19:11). However, all sin is abhorrent to our Holy God.
 
But in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pointed out that anger comes from the same moral defect as murder; and the one who lusts suffers from the same character flaw as the adulterer. Furthermore, those who engage in thought-sins are guilty of violating the same moral precepts as those who commit acts of murder and adultery. Wow! No one has an excuse. “For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.”
 
In other words, secret sins of the heart are morally tantamount to the worst kind of evil deeds actually performed—even if they are sins of a lesser degree. The lustful person has no right to feel morally superior to a wanton fornicator. The fact that she indulges in lust is proof she is capable of immoral acts as well. The fact that he hates his brother shows that he has murder lurking in his heart.
 
Christ was teaching us to view our own secret sins with the same moral revulsion we feel for wanton acts of public sin. Does that make sense?
 
3.   Because hidden sin involves the compounding sin of hypocrisy.
 
Those who sin secretly actually intensify their guilt, because they add the sin of hypocrisy to their offense. Hypocrisy is a grievous sin in its own right. It produces an especially debilitating kind of guilt, because by definition hypocrisy entails the concealing of sin. And the only remedy for any kind of sin involves uncovering our guilt through sincere confession.
 
Hypocrisy therefore permeates the soul with a predisposition against genuine repentance. That is why Jesus referred to hypocrisy as "the leaven of the Pharisees" (Luke 12:1).
 
Hypocrisy is in opposition to conscience. There's no way to be hypocritical without burning into the conscience. So hypocrisy inevitably makes way for the most deplorable, soul-tainting, character-damaging secret sins which ultimately removes the importance of integrity. Thus hypocrisy compounds itself, just like leaven. Beware that sort of leaven.
 
No matter who suggests to you that appearances are everything, don't buy into that lie.
 
As a matter of fact, your secret life is the real litmus test of your character: "As he thinks within himself, so he is" (Proverbs 23:7). Do you want to know who you really are? Take a hard look at your private life—especially your innermost thoughts. Be honest with God and yourself.  Gaze into the mirror of God's Word, and allow it to disclose and correct the real thoughts and motives of your heart. Do not be complacent.
 
So, is it not better that you reveal your secret sins rather than have those sins exposed for you whether you like it or not? That is up to you.

Notice that with our computers, we can respond to the threats by disabling or turning off or uninstalling items which may be used to expose our private information to the world. When it comes to our lives, God commands that we live lives which reflect His character. No hidden sins exist with God and that is what He desires for us as well.

Please visit our other site which addresses many issues via experts debating each other over all of the various issues keeping you from the Truth. There you will find many resources to assist you in your relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. (Look2Jesus.com)  

God bless you,

Richard Cunha

]]> Tue, 04 Sep 2018 15:49:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?hidden https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000015 1535733180): ?> <![CDATA[Confidentiality]]> imblog
Nearly 40 years ago, I was witnessing the beginning of a trend which concerned me greatly because I could see the tremendous potential for abuse. I was watching people just giving away their personal information to strangers without so much as blinking an eye. It was at that point I realized that this would only be the beginning of something which would inevitably lead to what we have today.
 
Here is a little history lesson:
 
Over the years, we've gone from the PLATO’s Message Forum to the first chat room called Talkomatic to TERM-talk along with an instant-messaging feature, back in the 70’s; from there, bulletin boards sprang up which delivered blogs and news reports.
 
When the 80’s hit, the potential of abuse was thought of and countermeasures were first employed. Back then, Access Lists were deployed which would restrict users to key individual groups which would fill a Notesfile. Those groups could be anything like My Friends, Relatives, Work Associates etc. This limited access to only specific sets of users.

Then Windows 3.0, 3.1, 95 etc. hit the seen along with MAC OS which removed the need for command lines and typing in program executions. This new thing was something never seen before and was labeled a (GUI) “Graphical User Interface.” This enabled someone without any computer skill or knowledge of programming to run programs as if they knew what they were doing. Thus the beginning of the end of anonymity and confidentiality. I liken this time like those first cars being driven by people who had no clue who would yell, “WHOA” when they wanted the car to stop. Like the people in those days with cars first being purchased, these new computer users didn’t have a clue either, and quite frankly, they still don’t.
 
It was the early 90’s and (IRC) “Internet Relay Chat” was in full swing along with the bulletin boards which a decade later had begun with quite a following. Information sharing began to rise as people were blinded by all of the possibilities without any consideration to the consequences.
 
In the 2000’s, AOL hit the scene with AOL Instant Messenger and Windows Live Messenger. Multiple levels of sharing of information options came into effect such as Myspace and Facebook. Torrent programs allowed for sharing of your data with strangers and you too could receive their data. Blogging gained great popularity as anyone could be an author, a journalist, a poet, or simply carry on one’s rantings. Again, blinders on and no thinking about future consequences.
 
Today, Myspace, Facebook, Linkedin, Google Plus, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, and many new ones continue to pop-up again and again. With smartphone technology, all of us are walking around with computers in our hands capable of installing apps which seek to know us better. Why? So targeted advertising may be sent directly to you. After all, you really didn’t think all of this was truly free did you?
 
As we give pieces of information away, email address, contact list, address, phone number, etc., we are essentially giving away specific information related to us which identifies us. This information is compiled into a profile and sold to the highest bidder. But, it doesn’t stop there. That profile goes from place to place, is copied and new info is constantly being applied to it.
 
I have investigators as clients who have told me how amazed they were at the number of people who post photos of themselves and family members on social networking sites. I have been told that these people have given investigators not only a new resource to gather evidence, but it is usually the first place they look. Even the IRS now uses Facebook to gather information on people who have reported their income as a low figure yet post pictures of themselves in their new very expensive cars and boats. Now, these are the “good guys.”
 
Unfortunately, “bad guys” exist to do bad things. Why make it easy on them? I have had clients post that they were on an Alaskan cruise for a week. They were surprised to find that their house was ransacked and items stolen while they were gone.
 
I was asked a number of years ago why I wasn’t posting pictures of my family. I said that my son was a minor. I love him and don’t want to identify what he looks like to strangers who may have a grudge against me. It wasn’t until this year when I decided that it would be safe to post my wife and me from an old picture. I waited until my son graduated high school and could take care of himself physically and spiritually before even considering posting him out in the world for public consumption.
 
Why? There are bad people in the world who will harm others because that is what they do. They serve the evil one whether they know it or not. It doesn’t surprise me. I know, that as a Christian living in a Christian family, running a Christian computer ministry, ministering Christ’s love on others and working continually to spread the Gospel, I am a target. Jesus said in John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
 
So, my words of advice to everyone, please employ God-given wisdom before telling the world about yourself or others. Be mindful of what it is you choose to share. If you lack wisdom, ask for it in prayer and it will be given to you. If you simply don’t understand, use common sense. If you are one who doesn’t believe in Jesus, the Bible, the Gospel, I’d love to hear from you.
 
As always, may God bless you in His Name.
 
Richard Cunha
]]> Fri, 31 Aug 2018 16:33:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?confidentiality https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000014 1535039580): ?> <![CDATA[Desensitized]]> imblog
There used to be a rating system many years ago which watched out for the American people.  Ed Sullivan was very much the standard. He set the bar and if he aired you on his show and liked you, you were a success. He became a moral compass for many. He strove for the highest of standards and everyone viewing his program each week was entertained by the greatest talents the world had ever seen.

Controversies were addressed on television as well but were done with great care not to insult people's intelligence or violate common decency. The long-running television western Gunsmoke, which aired on CBS from 1955 to 1975, flourished throughout those years without sex, crude humor, profanity, and taking the Lord's name in vain.  U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) stood up to lawlessness in defense of lawfulness.

The characters in Gunsmoke faced real social issues which were being experienced by the viewers of the day. These included the treatment of minority groups, the meaning of family, the legitimacy of violence, and the strength of religious belief. As time moved on, during the 1960s, the show became more aware of and sympathetic to ethnic minorities during the civil rights era. This helped the show to become the longest-running western in TV history and it never lowered the moral bar but instead kept the standard high.

Today, people are bombarded with profanity, slang, nudity, blaspheming the name of the Lord and the list goes on and on. Billboards and commercials with scantily clad women fill the visual arena for all who would see. This not only desensitizes people to the reality that they no longer need to aspire to a higher standard, they are also encouraged to do so in the movies, television, books and yes, on the internet as well.

In the computer industry, viruses, Trojans, worms and other malware are spread more wildly through the pornography industry than many other ways. The evil which attacks your computer is first instituted by your willingness to entertain yourself by these things. Websites which encourage immoral behavior are most notoriously linked in some way to malware.
 
In my latest linked post, "Tech companies 'must stop pedophiles uploading child sex abuse images', National Crime Agency says." This desensitizing of our people to what is obviously wrong has a direct bearing on our well-being however, the trend is increasing. According to the article, "The agency received 80,000 referrals over indecent photos and videos found on the internet last year alone and forecast the vile trend to worsen as people become increasingly “desensitized” to extreme pornography."  (Link to Article)

You were created in the image of God, full of love and grace. What might happen if you started believing this?
 
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
 -2 Corinthians 10:5
 
As someone thinks within himself, so he is.
 -Proverbs 23:7
 
Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.
-Philippians 4:8
  
Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
 -Romans 12:2
  
Changing the way you think changes your perspective which changes how you act in the world. Paul’s words aren’t new. “Change your mind” is the central theme of Jesus’ first sermon found in
(Matt. 4:17).
 
Jesus challenged people to change their thinking because regardless how many times you read through the Bible, if your mind doesn’t change, you will simply impose your biases and labels on the words you read. Unfortunately, the world has defined those biases and continues to do so every day.

So, while you browse the Internet, consider that Jesus wants the best for you because of His Perfect Love for you. Would He desire that you pollute your mind, your body or your spirit with things which would inevitably take you away from Him? Draw the line in your life and decide not to cross it. Withstand the enemy. Resist him with every fiber of your being and we have it on God's authority that the devil will flee. Stop letting this world dictate what you will watch, hear, read and do; and, decide to take that righteous stand in favor of what God wants for all of us.
 
If you choose to continue following the ways of this world, I will be servicing your computers more often and on an ever-increasing basis. I am merely giving you the opportunity to do what you already know is right. Now choose.
 
Offered in Christ's Love,
 
Richard Cunha
 
]]> Thu, 23 Aug 2018 15:53:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?desensitized https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000011 1534986960): ?> <![CDATA[Vulnerable]]> imblog There are certain realities we all must face. One may be more imprtant than another but in the end, we all must face reality like a cold splash of water to the face. One of the most difficult things to wrap one's brain around is the reality that evil exists. Oh sure, we know of those who have commited some of the most vile atrocities known to man like an Adolf Hitler or a Stalin. But, there are even more out there today that are unknown by any name than there has ever been thoughout all time.

These evil people seek to steel from you, kill your reputation and destroy your livelihood. Why? It should be enough to know that they simply exist to do what they do. Do not try to get into their heads to figure out what makes them tick. That would be a waste of energy.

I'd like for you to think more along the lines of what Satan does. He roams about the world from corner to corner roaring like a lion looking for someone to devour. Who is he? He is the enemy. What is his purpose? He comes to kill, steel and destroy. All who serve him, do exactly that. Any questions?

So, the next time you are hit by some rogueware which attacks your system and when it feels like you have been violated, keep it in perspective. You have been violated by one who serves the prince of darkness, the father of all lies but he is one who is already a defeated foe. Keep that perspective above all else. He lashes out trying to get you to lose your perspective and break your focus. He wants you to be afraid.

Remember, we are commanded not to fear 365 times in the Bible.  That's every single day all year long we are commanded not to fear. Something like that should not be ignored. It is obviously very important if it is commanded of us not to fear so many times in Scripture.

Never forget, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, to the Glory of the Father.

Please give yourself this opportunity. I will not judge you in any way. I will however work to shed light and help to illuminate the answers you may have been seeking all along but could not bring yourself to the point of accepting the way things are meant to be. Please visit our other site which addresses many issues via experts debating each other over all of the various issues keeping you from the Truth. There you will find many resources to assist you in your relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. (Look2Jesus.com)  

Be blessed in His name,
Richard Cunha
]]> Thu, 23 Aug 2018 01:16:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?vulnerable https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000010 1534038000): ?> <![CDATA[Immunity]]> imblog What do you think of when I say immunity? In the anatomy or the human physical realm, being immune to a disease is a really great thing because it prevents the disease from running rampant on a person. By that matter, being immunized makes it impossible for the disease to even take root in person. Did you know it is possible to immunize your computer from many bad websites?  It's true.

Eventhough I know how to immunize computers from many website infections, I am not immune to the onslaught of attacks by those who seek to hurt others. For example, my email address was recently discovered on the dark web. My accounts have been attacked many times over the course of the year.

Well, Christians probably know where I am going with this but to be clear, our Lord said, "if the world hates you, remember, it hated me first." The world is in a state of constantly attacking for money, fame, spite, etc. In the computer industry, it's no different as I mentioned a moment ago. But to immunize yourself should go beyond the computer only. Immunize yourself spiritually by remembering who you are in Christ first. Being in the Word daily is like being on the best vitamin regimen possible.

So, while I deal with your computer immunization, be sure you take your vitamins while never forgetting who you are in Christ. Just as a reminder, you are a child of God - princes and princesses of the living God most high. Never forget that and behave accordingly.

Short and sweet message for you, in love.

Please visit our other site which addresses many issues via experts debating each other over all of the various issues keeping you from the Truth. There you will find many resources to assist you in your relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. (Look2Jesus.com)  


God bless you,

Richard Cunha
]]> Sun, 12 Aug 2018 01:40:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?immunity https://comptu.com/blog/rss/00000000F 1533767640): ?> <![CDATA[Maintenance]]> imblog
I have been in the computer industry for a great many years and I have seen much. I have serviced countless computers over these same years and have decided to condense what I believe is a great threat not only to computers but also individuals and families.

Computers pick up viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, adware, spyware, rogueware and other types of malicious and security related infiltrations. Bad guys exist to do bad things and they are very good at what they do. So, please don't make it easy for them. Yearly computer maintenance can make the difference between a slow computer revealing private information to strangers and a fast secure computer awaiting your commands to be of service - ready to benefit its user.

Just as all computers should have at the very least a yearly maintenance, we should give ourselves a routine maintenance as well. Here is but an example and you will see how these are related:

Just as computers are capable of picking up bad things which reduce them much of the time to mere paperweights, we too may be impacted adversely. For example, all pornographic websites are malicious. Just by going to one of these types of sites you risk getting a drive-by download of some kind of malicious threat. So, don't go to any of those sites. If you find that you are unable to tear yourself away from such sites, then there is indeed an issue which must be resolved. Time for some self maintenance and check ourselves as to what the issue is, why it is happening and how to resolve it.

The solution to this problem and all problems is simple. His name is Jesus. Confess all of your sins to Him and tell Him He is right about you and ask for forgiveness. Ask Him for the power to repent (turn away) from your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Ask Him to remove the addiction and the temptation to go to such sites and then Honor and Glorify Him for His faithfulness in addressing your issues. You do this by spreading the word of what it is He has done in your life thus giving credit to God.

These statistics should be a concern for everyone and this is a copy and paste from where these stats are published on the Webroot Website:

General pornography stats
  • Every second 28,258 users are watching pornography on the internet
  • Every second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography on the internet
  • Every second 372 people are typing the word "adult" into search engines
  • 40 million American people regularly visit porn sites
  • 35% of all internet downloads are related to pornography
  • 25% of all search engine queries are related to pornography, or about 68 million search queries a day
  • One third of porn viewers are women
  • Search engines get 116,000 queries every day related to child pornography
  • 34% of internet users have experienced unwanted exposure to pornographic content through ads, pop up ads, misdirected links or emails
  • 2.5 billion emails sent or received every day contain porn
  • Every 39 minutes a new pornography video is being created in the United States
  • About 200,000 Americans are “porn addicts”
Youth pornography stats
  • Teenagers with frequent exposure to sexual content on TV have a substantially greater likelihood of teenage pregnancy; and the likelihood of teen pregnancy was twice as high when the quantity of sexual content exposure within the viewing episodes was highviii.
  • Pornography viewing by teens disorients them during the developmental phase when they have to learn how to handle their sexuality and when they are most vulnerable to uncertainty about their sexual beliefs and moral valuesix
  • A significant relationship also exists among teens between frequent pornography use and feelings of loneliness, including major depressionx
  • Adolescents exposed to high levels of pornography have lower levels of sexual self-esteemxi
Family/Marital pornography stats
  • According to National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, 2010, 47% of families in the United States reported that pornography is a problem in their homexii.
  • Pornography use increases the marital infidelity rate by more than 300%xiii
  • 40 percent of “sex addicts” lose their spouses, 58 percent suffer considerable financial losses, and about a third lose their jobsxiv
  • 68% of divorce cases involve one party meeting a new paramour over the internet while 56% involve one party having an “obsessive interest” in pornographic websitesxv

iIn February 2010, the number of people using a work computer to visit sexually oriented website was as high as 28%, according to research conducted by The Nielsen Company. The average visit to a pornography site from a work computer was about 13 minutes, and the average worker spent one hour and 38 minutes on such sites during that month.

If we leverage data extracted on: March 30, 2012, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics we can use their average hourly earnings of $23.23 multiplied by 1hr.38min = a loss of ~$38/month per employee watching pornography at work. Multiplying the monthly total by 12 months shows a loss of $456 dollars each year from every employee that views pornography.

The number of U.S. employees reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as of March 30th, 2012 was 132 million. If we divide this to represent 28% of employees using a work computer to visit pornographic sites up to ~37million employees viewing pornography. (There are many ways to pare down this number, for example by excluding some labor categories, but for the sake of the exercise we’re keeping it simple).

Thus, if 37 million employees are viewing the average amount of pornography cited by the Nielsen Company, the annual productivity loss to companies is a staggering $16.9 Billion dollars.

Please read my blog on Temptations in this Life. I pray that it may be of service.

Please give yourself this opportunity. I will not judge you in any way. I will however work to shed light and help to illuminate the answers you may have been seeking all along but could not bring yourself to the point of accepting the way things are meant to be. Please visit our other site which addresses many issues via experts debating each other over all of the various issues keeping you from the Truth. There you will find many resources to assist you in your relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. (Look2Jesus.com)  

God bless you,

Richard Cunha

]]> Wed, 08 Aug 2018 22:34:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?maintenance https://comptu.com/blog/rss/00000000E 1532638920): ?> <![CDATA[Security]]> imblog
What do you think of when I say security? I would think that the majority of people would immediately envision a lock or a uniformed officer. In the computer industry, security revolves around hardware and software. Everyone should have a firewall, antivirus and a really good password solution which is also extremely crucial.
 
Today, I posted on Facebook the necessity of having complicated passwords. All passwords should be alpha numeric using uppercase and lowercase characters; passwords should have at least two symbols and be no less than 8 characters in length. To complicate matters even more, you must be sure that no part of your password can be found in any dictionary which means that the characters must appear to be random. Sounds complicated and time consuming? Well, it would be if it weren't for password managers which store all of your passwords for you. I personally recommend Lastpass located here.

Lastpass will not only store your passwords and encrypt them, it will also generate new ones for you. Its generator has a slider which can create up to a 100-digit password and you can configure it so that it uses symbols or not; and/or, the password generator can make your password pronounceable or not. You only need to write down or memorize your master password which gives access to all of the rest of the passwords. Lastpass can also scan your passwords and determine whether they are weak or repeated or are simply no good for whatever reason.

Seems like a lot to do when it comes to securing your passwords but it really isn't. You see, the mark of a good security program requires very little of its operator because it does all of the work (generating, encrypting, form filling, memorizing, etc.).

Eternal security is similar except it requires nothing at all on the part of those who have been redeemed by our Lord, Jesus Christ (He paid the price required for sin, which is death; but, having never sinned, death had no hold on Him; and, on the third day, He rose again proving He is God. Now, His necessary sacrifice is before an eternally Holy God for all eternity. He sits in bodily human form at the right hand of the Father in heaven making intercession for us. And, He never stops.) Romans 8:1, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

God’s Everlasting Love, Romans 8: 31-39
 
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Now that's eternal security!

May His peace which transcends all understanding guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.

God bless you,
Richard Cunha

]]> Thu, 26 Jul 2018 21:02:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?security https://comptu.com/blog/rss/00000000C 1528568520): ?> <![CDATA[Going the Extra Mile]]> imblog
As a Christian, going the extra mile is the norm. Or, at least, it ought to be. Even the world goes the extra mile in performing services and selling goods. To the world, it is a matter of dollars and cents. To serve the public well and going beyond what is expected, may yield a bigger profit margin in the end. Sounds good and it also makes a lot of sense.

If a business provides goods and/or services, its purpose should be for more than just making money. The business should add some kind of value to the quality of life. It should improve and enrich all with whom it contacts. For Christians, our entire life is meant to glorify God and reflect Jesus Christ. Christian businessess must be conducted with the highest of integrity. This means that in every aspect, the business must be honest, reliable, trustworthy, and that the company, no matter the size, offers consistentency in quality.

COMPTU makes every effort to be distinctive, exceptional and/or unique. We are in a constant state of developing a daily, disciplined awareness of the presence and power of God. This awareness, fueled by an intimate relationship with Him, influences the way we think and our decisions which turns into our words and our actions. It changes attitudes toward job responsibilities. "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men... You are serving the Lord Christ." (Col. 3:23)

Word of mouth has been and continues to be the most effective kind of advertising. People still appreciate quality and honesty. In the Amplified Bible, this point is proven with Proverbs 22:29: "Do you see a man diligent and skillful in his business? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men."

For the Christian, going the extra mile is scripture lived out. In Matthew 5:42, "And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." This is a command. In that day, a Roman soldier could and would order a civilian person to carry the soldier's things a distance of 1 Roman mile. Sometimes, those things could weigh upwards around 100 pounds. However, the command that we are given as Christians is to go beyond that which is expected. This is what makes us, Christians, unique and causes people to ask the question, "Why are you doing ..." or, "What makes you so different?" These serve as opportuinities to share the Gospel message and your testimony giving glory to God. Which, by the way, is what it is all about.

Bless you in Christ's name.

Rick Cunha
]]> Sat, 09 Jun 2018 18:22:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?going-the-extra-mile https://comptu.com/blog/rss/00000000A 1524098880): ?> <![CDATA[Why the Christian Stuff]]> imblog
I gave my life over to Christ more than 10 years ago which includes COMPTU Computer Technical Support and Consulting. I belong to Him. He purchased me with His blood. My life and all that I own is really not mine. It's all His.

I do not differentiate from home and church or any other place. I am the same person no matter where I am. I am a Christian who is a servant of our Lord. I serve Him and minister where He needs me to be which can be anywhere.

Because He has placed it on my heart the urgency of the Gospel message, every road He has placed before me must be utilized for His greater honor and Glory. That is, every opportunity He has afforded me to spread the Good News, I will run with it and tell all who would receive this message.

COMPTU is well known and has quite a following. If my Christian walk is to match my talk, then I place myself out there without fear and without being ashamed of the Gospel. It also means I must be accountable. I have deliberately given no less than 12 men permission to correct me if my walk and talk are not in alignment otherwise I may give the people of this world the wrong impression of who it is that I serve.
 
If I say I am a Christian and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, then I should behave as such. As the renewing of my mind continues to mature me, when I encounter the worldly things, I know greater is He who is in me than who is in the world. I need only be myself.  Since my desire is to serve the Lord and He has so lovingly and graciously given me this medium to spread the Good News, then I would be faithless and foolish not to jump on this opportunity.  So I give it everything He has empowered me to utilize to spread the message.

I wear many hats. I am a husband and dad; a brother and son and I am also a friend; I am a teacher and a student and I am also a mentor; I am a business owner, a tax payer and a soldier; and, so many other things not mentioned. Most importantly, there is no separation from whom God has called me to be and the many facets of my life experience. I am redeemed, saved by the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. My redemption - my salvation - my trust - my faith is entirely in Jesus Christ. Now, there is no distinction between my various hats and who I am in Christ. It is all inseparable.

I hope that makes sense. In this world it probably doesn’t but it makes no matter. I know who I am in the Lord and I know what He has asked of me.

Do you have any questions? Please feel absolutely free to ask me. I’m here not only to look after your computer needs, I’m also here to help in the name of Jesus.

God bless you all,

Richard Cunha



]]> Thu, 19 Apr 2018 00:48:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?why-the-christian-stuff https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000005 1522423920): ?> <![CDATA[Forgiveness]]> imblog
How can we forgive people who have done us wrong?  What does that look like and why should we? As I live out the Gospel, I recognize the examples set forth by my Lord. He modeled the "right" Christian behavior He expects of His disciples even today. He did this all of the way to the cross and up to His last breath.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at Him. They said, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked Him. They offered Him wine vinegar and said, “If You are the king of the Jews, save Yourself.” There was a written notice above Him, which read: this is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: “Aren’t You the Messiah? Save Yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” — Luke 23:34-43

Jesus had been betrayed by one of His own disciples for thirty pieces of silver. He was arrested, interrogated, and tried with made-up evidence by the Jewish ruling council. Peter had denied Him 3 times, and Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas had questioned Him. He had been whipped profusely, mocked, struck and spat upon; and, He was paraded around for the amusement of those onlookers. A crown of thorns was put upon His head. Not only that, but He had to carry the instrument of His own execution on his back. The cross. If we imagine ourselves in Jesus’ position, looking down at the crowd whose schemes and strategies had put us there, what would our first words be? Would they be words of mercy and grace? Probably not.

The words that fell from Jesus’ lips were: “Father, forgive them.” Imagine that. Instead of asking God to give His killers what they deserved, Jesus asked Him to give complete forgiveness. Jesus did not condone their actions and He did not deny their guilt.  What He did do was recognize that they didn’t understand the gravity of what they were doing. The Jews thought Jesus was a blasphemer; the Romans thought they were punishing yet another criminal. No one understood that they were committing the vilest crime in the history of the world: they were crucifying the Son of God. But what did Jesus do? Jesus interceded on behalf of the people who were torturing Him, and at Golgotha He modeled the words He had shared again and again that we are to
demonstrate as followers of Jesus:

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. — Matthew 5:44
And that’s what He continues to do endlessly from His thrown.  Jesus is not accusing us but is standing as our advocate and interceding on our behalf. All other priests, past and present who would intercede for man, have and will die.  Jesus is the Lamb who was slain — our Great High Priest who could atone for our sins, once and for all. That’s why the writer of Hebrews said, "The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.'" Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself." — Hebrews 7:18-27

1 John 1:9 — tells us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Jesus has a permanent priesthood because He is eternal and He also lives to intercede for His children. It is comforting knowing that Jesus intercedes for me and has the power to forgive me. How can I therefore withhold forgiveness to another? The simple answer is, I can't.  

God bless you.

Richard Cunha
]]> Fri, 30 Mar 2018 15:32:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?forgiveness https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000004 1522296540): ?> <![CDATA[Temptations in Life]]> imblog
I face temptations just like everyone else.  I am far from perfect but I also know that I have been perfected by the work of Jesus Christ. How does this go together? How are these temptations in this life to be dealt with? There are many questions which can be generated around this topic but for purposes of this blog, I will deal with the expressed temptations herein. Remember, not all temptations are the same for every person but we know that these temptations are common to man and it is God’s faithfulness in providing a way out that we should always be looking for.

In my industry, thinking quickly is the key to defeating something which is running rampant on a computer or network.  The longer it takes to arrive at a solution the greater the likelihood it will be too late. Having been in this industry for 37 years, I have adapted to the quick thinking solution and have come to realize that while it may be best for the industry, it may not be a good idea for the rest of life's issues. I have found myself in a continuous state of looking ahead of what people are in the process of saying and then interrupting.  How rude is that!  Shame on me. I have found myself doing it when answering questions with everyone and now it has become my default mode. Now, I only seem to catch myself after the conversation has ended. Again, how rude is that. The truth be known, I have developed this over a long period of time and while it has served well for computers and networks, it has become an embarrassment for everything else. But God has given me a way out.

The temptation is to look ahead in a conversation based on the available facts and couple that with my experience and then forecast a solution. Yep. I am in a constant state of “Problem Solving Mode.”  Unfortunately, I can’t just turn it off once a conversation has started because my brain has also started problem solving upon the start of the conversation.  So, here is what my wife and I do to handle this in our relationship.  My loving wife simply says at the onset of a conversation, “I don’t want an answer. I just want you to listen.” Those simple words have yielded a fantastic response by me. It is as though I have been given permission to stop before I have even started and simply listen. And you know what? It works. Practicing to listen, I pray will reverse my default behavior with everyone else. Looks Like God has provided a way out that I may rise above the problem.
  
Here is another one which I must deal with on a day-to-day basis. There is a reality which many people do not want to face. I can say that based on what scripture says. Scripture tells us to “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.”  Inside my heart is a desire to save everyone. Only Jesus saves, yes, but my heart echos His desire that none should perish but repent. The temptation I have is to constantly deliver a fire and brimstone sermon to the apparently lost. Do I actually succumb to it? No. There is always an echo in my heart of the words, “gentleness and respect.” Scripture says, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” So, I suppose honoring Christ goes hand-in-hand with how one presents the Gospel and it explains the constant echo in my heart. I honor Christ in my heart. So, listening to my heart results in overcoming the temptation to ram the Gospel down someone’s throat. Of course you realize I am jesting here. Right? I'm not that rude.
 
Here is my last one for today. I battle keeping watch on my tongue. Not everything requires me to make a comment, so why do I make one? Beats me. I figure the more words one speaks the greater the likelihood that person is going to regret speaking at all. I have been fortunate however. Thus far, nothing I have said has caused any harm to anyone that I am aware of. That tongue. Sort of like a rudder. Such a small device and it can move big things. It can lead a straight and level course or it can run you aground. I pray that my tongue will not get the better of me or anyone else by that matter.

My goal is to look for the way out of the situation where I am compelled to comment in the first place. After all, God has provided it, but am I looking for it? I suppose that is the absolute answer to all temptations of man. We know that God has provided a way out of every single temptation that we face and we have it on His Good authority in Scripture that He will provide it. In Scripture, we are told that, “no temptation has seized you except what is common to man. God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
 
So there it is. You want to fight temptation? You will fail. Sorry. In and of yourself, you can do nothing. Your adversary and mine is a demon who is way smarter and more cleaver than I am or you are. It takes God. He is the one who is faithful, not you and not me. It is God who provides the way out. Not you and not me. So I am left with one final thought on the matter. Even though I know Jesus, His Word and His will for me, why is it that occasionally I seem to find myself not looking for the way out that He has provided? I can only answer that it must be me. I suddenly and unknowingly decide to supplant God’s will with my own. I think that is the default state of man generally speaking. It will inevitably lead to acting on the temptations of this life.
 
To quote my dear friend and brother, Dan Barachkov, “So, how’s that working for you?”

God bless you.

Richard Cunha
]]> Thu, 29 Mar 2018 04:09:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?the-temptations-of-this-life https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000001 1521755760): ?> <![CDATA[Living Out the Gospel]]> imblog
As a small business owner, I must speak with and serve many hundreds of people throughout the year. Many have been a bit rough around the edges while others have been uplifting and gracious. I have seen and have been a part of many lives in some way, shape or form.  As I live out the Gospel message in my life, I recognize the importance of speaking with my Lord first and most importantly, I understand that it is truly Him that I am serving no matter in what capacity I may be serving.

I have found that people can sometimes bring out the worst in people.  I have also found that God brings out the best in me.  I choose to allow the latter.  Knowing that I can do nothing apart from my Lord brings about a sense of comfort and security.  This is something I can rest in knowing and have the assuredness of His Word to support me.
 
As a believer in my risen Lord who is my Savior, I rely upon His Truths – His commands – in Him I rely, to lead me where I must go and to do according to His will.  This means how I behave in my life with my wife and son as well as with the stranger on the street; whether I am servicing computers in my office or remotely controlling computers through the Internet; whether I am serving at our church or buying groceries at the store or writing an email or talking with someone on the phone.  I know that whatever I do, I will work at it with all my heart because I know it is the Lord Jesus Christ that I am actually serving, not men.  He has giving me new life though His sacrifice upon the cross – being sinless He bore my sins.  He died and rose on the third day proving He was God.  This is the single most important event that has ever happened or will ever happen.

These truths mean I can be compassionate and understanding with my fellow man and may empathize with the person who has suffered at the hands of some unscrupulous person.  It is a part of the way things must go in this fallen world.  But there is hope. Jesus has overcome this world.

As a Christian, why wouldn’t I share this message.  In fact, as a Christian, I am commanded to share this Good News (Gospel).  My life is no longer my life, it is His.  My work is no longer my work, I’m in His service.  My ministering isn’t me ministering, it is the Holy Spirit who dwells in me to do as He asks of me.

Now, you may understand my business more clearly.  It isn’t my business at all, it’s the Lord’s.  We therefore give honor and praise to Him first and foremost because He is God – worthy of ALL praise and honor.  Since there is not a thing which exists that He did not bring into existence, I know that everything Must begin with Him and not with me or mine or even you.  All of creation is His and He has lovingly allowed me to serve Him as a minister of His Holy Word, a loving and faithful husband and father; a soldier, a teacher, a friend, a confidant and yes, a computer guy.

My cup is overflowing.  I am indeed blessed and highly favored.

God bless you.

Richard Cunha
]]> Thu, 22 Mar 2018 21:56:00 GMT https://comptu.com/blog/?living-out-the-gospel https://comptu.com/blog/rss/000000000